Door knob tags having a round hole through which the door knob protrudes have been commonly in use, with the top of the door knob shaft supporting the tag at the top of the circular hole. While these type of tags are, to a certain extent, satisfactory for interior doors, more and more hotels and motels have been planned with exterior doors either exposed to a courtyard or parking lot. Tags of the above configuration blow off the exterior door knobs and present a major cost to the motel or hotel operator over the course of a year. Slotted tags also exist in which the slot conforms to the outside diameter of the door knob shaft. However, these tags also blow off when used on exterior doors.
The subject invention is a door knob tag which snaps into place. It is formed with two apertures or holes, one large enough to accommodate a knob, the other just large enough to accommodate the knob shaft in a snug fit, and integrally formed inwardly projecting flexible tab portions in a channel or passageway between the two holes. The tag is merely slipped over the knob and pulled down. Initially, during the downward pull, the knob shaft cams the tabs outwardly. When the tag is in place, the tabs snap back. This binds the tag to the knob shaft in a releasable manner and is remarkable in its ability to prevent tag blowaway.
A further feature of the subject tag is that it is too thin to be successfully used to "jimmy" locks by insertion between the door and door jamb. The tag in one embodiment is made either of STACON.TM., a polyolefin sheet, (a trademarked product of Central States Products of St. Louis, Missouri) with a thickness ranging between 0.015 and 0.019 inches or a laminated vinyl ranging in thickness of between 0.010 and 0.015 inches which prevents lock tampering.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a wind proof door knob tag.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method of preventing door knob tags from blowing away.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a door knob tag material which in predetermined thickness prevents lock tampering.
These and other objects of this invention will be better understood when taken in connection with the following detailed description and accompanying drawings in which: